Boards, committees and Bohl – oh my!

In this edition: BOZA gets a new chair, Alderman Bohl blows up and the mainstream media once again misses the mark.

Big news! New BOZA head: Outside of city government, not many people know or care about the Board of Zoning Appeals, affectionately known by insiders as BOZA. (Pronounced with a long “o” and a short “a,” so it rhymes with “Rosa.”) But if you live in the City of Milwaukee, run a business here or watch the city government station on TV (Channel 25), you know how vitally important BOZA is to maintaining a good quality of life in Milwaukee.

Whenever a daycare wants to open in a residential neighborhood, or someone wants to put up an extra-large billboard, or a corner store is up for renewal, the Board, made up of private citizens, votes on whether or not exceptions (i.e. “variances”) to land use restrictions should be granted. Typically, an alderman or his/her aide will go before BOZA and tell why he/she is for/against the variance. There is often a lot of good neighborhood testimony, too, and the hearings can go well into the night. This is local government at its finest, and the chairman – for more than a decade – has been well-respected tax attorney Craig Zetley.

In November, Zetley announced his resignation. This announcement sent shockwaves throughout City Hall and beyond, but it was barely mentioned by most Milwaukee media outlets. The replacement is long-time BOZA member Catey Doyle, who also happens to be sister to Governor Jim Doyle. Catey, the staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society, is passionate about Milwaukee and a great person for a job that would be demanding for anyone. Tune in to Channel 25 on any Thursday night when BOZA is in session and see how she runs her meetings.  The general expectation seems to be that Ms. Doyle will be extremely fair with aldermen and citizens alike, but maybe not has hard line as Mr. Zetley when it comes to the interpretation of city code. Doyle is known for being empathetic and understanding of special circumstances.

Like church, but for liquor licenses: Speaking of running city meetings, there was quite a bit of commotion at the Licenses Committee hearing in early December. Alderman Jim Bohl, known for his integrity, sincerity and long-winded analogies, is chair of the committee that grants a variety of alcohol and other licenses. He took over that role for Ald. James Witkowiak in April, but it’s Bohl’s second turn at being the chair of Licenses. (He’s one of the most veteran aldermen, having represented the west side of Milwaukee for more than a decade.) During this particular hearing, Bohl blasted citizens in attendance for not turning off their cell phones. “This should be like church,” he said at one point, exhorting people to be respectful of the proceedings. He even kicked out one person whose cell phone continued to ring. Many observers thought Bohl crossed the line.

The castigation of Milwaukee residents – many of whom take off work to come and testify about a nuisance bar or other establishment – is not typical. Common Council President Hines has a reputation for making sure that all his chairs show respect for residents. Maybe that’s why Bohl’s bad behavior has been the topic of conversation from the halls of the Mayor’s Office to the Department of City Development. The word is that Pres. Hines is putting Bohl on a shorter leash and will scrutinize future Licenses hearings.

Nobody’s plum: And speaking of Licenses, December marked the first meeting of the Alcohol Beverage Licensing Task Force, which the Common Council set up to evaluate how the Licenses process was abused by former Ald. Michael McGee. Former State Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler is chairing the task force, which will give its recommendations to Pres. Hines. Some of the recommendations will undoubtedly center around the so-called “aldermanic privilege” debate. There are a variety of definitions of aldermanic privilege out there, but the main one seems to be a myth that a local alderman can push his agenda through committees without any checks and balances. If you’ve watched a Licenses hearing (or any other committee hearing), you know that local alderman are often frustrated by the committee process.

One thing that the mass media never managed to mention when the McGee saga was going down was the fact that Licenses is a committee that no aldermen want to be on. The committee hearings typically start at 8 am and go well past 8 pm. Freshman alders always have to pay their dues and sit on this committee, which is why McGee was on it – and why Coggs and Kovac now serve there. Even in McGee’s taped conversations, released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he complained about having to serve on Licenses. (In one tape, he profusely complained about having to sit on the same committee as Ald. Willie Wade – no love there, apparently – maybe because they once ran against each other.) But obviously McGee tried to use the committee for his own purposes. He probably would have done the same thing if he was on a powerful committee – like Zoning & Neighborhood Development or Finance. Scary.

Sometimes it’s amazing how little interest many journalists have in understanding and reporting the facts. To many local reporters, Licenses is perceived as the plum assignment for a council member. During the McGee flap, the vast majority of media outlets perpetuated the fiction that Licenses was the most powerful committee in city government. But who can blame them? Unless you pay attention to what’s going on in City Hall, you might not know the difference between Public Safety and Public Works. Even Mayor Barrett seems to join whichever media chorus is currently singing in the news echo chamber. Here’s the real deal: if you live close to a bar that should be closed, Licenses is an important committee. But if you think that the city’s power brokers are doing business in that committee, think again. All you have to do is watch a few hearings with Ald. Bohl to know that it’s not where most aldermen want to be. VS